Liquid column damping system

Abstract

The invention relates to a liquid column damping system, particularly for damping building vibrations, comprising a tank (B, S 1 , S 2 ) filled with a liquid, said tank having, in particular, a substantially U-shaped geometry in at least one direction. At least two columns (S 1 , S 2 ) of the tank arranged at a distance from each other, particularly for forming communicating liquid columns, are connected by a base region (B) of the tank, and means for adjusting the damping of the liquid column damping system and/or the natural frequency of the liquid column damping system are provided. At least one column wall region (W 1 ) in at least one of the columns (S 1 , S 2 ), preferably in all columns, can be moved in order to change the column cross-section.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A liquid-column damping system for damping building vibrations, the system comprising
 a substantially U-shaped tank having at least two upright columns spaced horizontally from each other and a base region forming a fluid flow connection between the columns, at least one of the columns having a vertical wall defining a horizontal cross section of the one column; 
 a body of liquid filling the base region and at least partially filling the columns; and 
 means for adjusting the damping of the liquid-column damping system and/or the natural frequency of the liquid-column damping system by horizontally moving the wall above the base region to change the cross-section of the respective column. 
 
     
     
       2. A liquid-column damping system for damping building vibrations, the system comprising
 a substantially U-shaped tank having at least two upright columns spaced horizontally from each other and a base region forming a fluid flow connection between the columns, at least one of the columns having a vertical wall defining a horizontal cross section of the one column and formed above the base region by a movable inner wall panel and a fixed outer wall panel, the inner wall panel being displaceable inward while at least partially parallel to the outer fixed wall panel; 
 a body of liquid filling the base region and at least partially filling the columns; and 
 means for adjusting the damping of the liquid-column damping system and/or the natural frequency of the liquid-column damping system by horizontally moving the movable inner wall panel to change a horizontal cross-section of the respective column. 
 
     
     
       3. The liquid-column damping system according to  claim 2 , wherein the movable inner wall panel is connected at its lower end with the respective outer wall panel. 
     
     
       4. The liquid-column damping system according to  claim 2 , wherein the one column is formed on each of two mutually opposite walls each with one such movable inner wall panel that can be displaced inward relative to a respective one such fixed outer wall panel. 
     
     
       5. The liquid-column damping system according to  claim 2 , wherein the movable inner wall panel extends parallel to a flow direction through the base region between the columns. 
     
     
       6. The liquid-column damping system according to  claim 5 , wherein the movable inner wall panel is formed from at least one plate mounted pivotally on the fixed outer wall panel. 
     
     
       7. The liquid-column damping system according to  claim 4 , wherein a position of each of the inner wall panels relative to the respective outer wall panel is adjustable by at least one drive assembly formed by
 a single drive with which the positions of all inner wall panels of all columns can be adjusted simultaneously, or 
 respective drives for each column with which mutually opposite inner wall panels of the respective column can be adjusted simultaneously, or 
 respective drives for each inner wall panel with which the position thereof is adjustable. 
 
     
     
       8. The liquid-column damping system according to  claim 2 , wherein the movable inner wall panel is guided with its side regions on two opposite, immobile surfaces of the respective column. 
     
     
       9. A liquid-column damping system for damping building vibrations, the system comprising
 a substantially U-shaped tank having at least two upright columns spaced horizontally from each other and a base region forming a fluid flow connection between the columns, at least one of the columns having a movable vertical column wall defining a horizontal cross section of the one column, the movable wall being formed by a fixed outer wall panel and a movable inner wall panel, the inner wall panel bring formed in turn from upper and lower movable plates that are pivoted to each other at an upper horizontal axis at a lower edge of the upper plate and an upper edge of the lower plate, the lower plate being pivoted at a horizontal lower axis on the fixed outer wall panel and being guided to always extend parallel to the fixed outer wall panel; 
 a body of liquid filling the base region and at least partially filling the columns; and 
 means for adjusting the damping of the liquid-column damping system and/or the natural frequency of the liquid-column damping system by horizontally moving the wall to change the cross-section of the respective column. 
 
     
     
       10. A liquid-column damping system for damping building vibrations, the system comprising:
 a substantially U-shaped tank having at least two upright columns spaced horizontally from each other and a base region forming a fluid flow connection between the columns, at least one of the columns having a movable vertical column wall defining a horizontal cross section of the one column; 
 a body of liquid filling the base region and at least partially filling the columns; 
 means for adjusting the damping of the liquid-column damping system and/or the natural frequency of the liquid-column damping system by horizontally moving the movable wall to change the cross-section of the respective column; 
 upper and lower vibration sensors at upper and lower regions of a building whose vibrations are to be damped; 
 a level sensor and/or wind sensor; and 
 a control computer adapted to calculate a necessary natural frequency and/or necessary natural damping from outputs of the sensors and to set the necessary damping by adjustment of at least one movable column wall.